Football
Associated Press 19y

Germany, Argentina reach semifinals at Confederations Cup

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Germany and Argentina advanced to the
semifinals of the Confederations Cup on Saturday.

In the eight-team warmup for next year's World Cup finals,
Germany defeated African champion Tunisia 3-0 on a 74th-minute
penalty by Michael Ballack and late goals from Bastian
Schweinsteiger and substitute Mike Hanke.

In the other Group A game, Argentina topped Australia 4-2 on
three goals by Luciano Figueroa and a first-half penalty by Juan
Riquelme. John Aloisi scored twice for Australia, giving him a
tournament-leading four goals.

With five World Cup titles between them, Germany and Argentina
were under pressure to move on.

"Everyone expected us to win the first two games, but now comes
a great challenge," Ballack said. "We are looking forward to
it."

With six points each, Germany and Argentina will meet Tuesday in
Nuremberg in the final group game. The winner of the group will
likely avoid a semifinal matchup with Brazil, the favorite in Group
B.

If the game is a draw, Germany will take the group because of
goal differential.

It was an evenly fought match in Cologne until Ballack broke
through, taking the focus off new German coach and former star
Juergen Klinsmann.

Klinsmann has lost only once in 13 games since taking over eight
months ago. He's installed an up-tempo game, but his defense has
been suspect and he's also been criticized for living in California
and commuting to Germany.

"The game had the character of a final," said Klinsmann, who
played on Germany's 1990 World Cup-winning team, and in '94 and
'98. "Now we are into the last four. It will be very hard to win
against Brazil or Argentina."

The tournament continues to be high-scoring with 25 goals in the
first six games -- more than four per game.

On Sunday in Group B, leader Brazil plays Mexico in Hanover, and
Greece faces Japan in Frankfurt. The semifinals are June 25-26,
with the final on June 29.

The two-week tournament is giving German officials a chance to
test five of the 12 stadiums for the World Cup finals. The field is
strong with host Germany, World Cup champion Brazil and the six
continental champions -- Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Greece, Japan
and Tunisia.

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